


Swords and Shields

by theRadioStarr



Series: The Lion Among the Wolves [4]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-04
Updated: 2015-06-04
Packaged: 2018-04-02 19:17:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4071502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theRadioStarr/pseuds/theRadioStarr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Companion piece to Capitolina Lupa, taking place during Chapter 38: Demands Of the Qun. </p>
<p>Ever since we left Valammar, all I can think about is getting back to Skyhold to get some writing done - I think the Seeker's going to be happy with the results.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Swords and Shields

**Author's Note:**

> Sweet Maker, Varric is hard to write.

I can’t even believe I’m doing this.

Seriously – me? Itching to write another chapter of _Swords and Shields?_ Maybe the red lyrium’s finally getting to me.

Okay, Varric, think – where do we start? _Why_ do we start?

I guess… well, Bianca’s where we start. So, maybe my heroine is an insane inventor by day, and moonlights as a crazy vigilante. I could make that work. And her partner’s a mechanic, but she falls in love with a wealthy merchant?

No, _that_ won’t work at all. The Guild will see _right_ through it, and I’ve had enough of the assassins her parents send to last a lifetime.

Okay, so maybe he’s… a blacksmith? Ooh, that could be fun, play on textures and such. Smith’s hands are rough like warrior’s hands, right? Maybe Curly will help me out with this one. Hah!

What should her name be? What was it Bianca said to Wolfy? “It’s either Helga or Bianca – I just lucked out.” Or something like that. Hm… she’d get a kick out of Helga. Not a pretty name, by any means, but maybe her blacksmith makes it feel pretty for the first time in her life, and that’s how she falls for him.

Oh, man, that’s terrible – it’s perfect.

Alright, now where’s all my stuff? I wish the servants would listen when anyone tells them to leave my little space alone. I should talk to the Inquisitor, see if she can-

A-ha. Here we go.

 

 

 

Andraste’s tits, Tethras, you picked up the pen so you could _write_ , not stare at the page daydreaming all night.

Yeah, I guess I did. But I have no idea where this _came from_ , how am I supposed to put it on paper?

Oh great. Here we go – time to think about everything. I wasn’t kidding when I told the Inquisitor that I don’t ‘deal with things’. I’ve been putting this off, in the hopes that just writing would help me work everything out.

Well, shit – looks like that’s not going to happen.

So Bianca ended up leaking the thaig location to Corypheus. I guess she didn’t _mean_ to, but how do you excuse someone for something like that? You can’t just say, _Hey, no big deal – it’s all fine and dandy that you ended up giving the baddest bad guy to ever bad a major source of the stuff he uses to fuel his evil henchman armies._

Maker’s balls, if only it were that easy. If only I didn’t still love her; maybe it wouldn’t feel quite so painful and personal then. Nothing I can do about that, though, is there? Because convincing yourself to stop loving someone is just _so easy._

I’ve always avoided writing about Bianca – too personal, you risk letting little things slip that make perfect sense to you, but no sense at all to the reader – but maybe this is what I’ve needed to do the whole time. Maybe writing about the whole ordeal, letting it out, putting it down on paper… Maybe it’ll give me some freedom.

So, first things first: I need to figure out what she’s going to look like. She’s gotta be human, it’ll make her the most relatable: too many people know too little about dwarves, and see elves as lesser people.

Idiots.

Alright, dark hair seems pretty common, maybe black? Oh, and she could have these cool, ice-blue eyes that – Dammit. No, that won’t work. Maker, Hawke, why did you have to go and sacrifice yourself to that demon?

Okay, I can keep the ice-blue eyes, but maybe I should make her white-blonde. There we go, that’s something different. And it’s all the more striking because she always wears black when she goes vigilante-ing.

Here we go, now we’re on to something!

So now, her husband-

Wait, is that Cullen?

“Hey, Curly!”

Probably not a good idea to have a shouted conversation across the hall. Oh, good, he’s coming over.

“ **Everything okay, Varric?** ”

“No offence, Curly, but you look like shit. Everything okay?”

What an understatement – he looks like he lost a fight with three giants and a great bear, at once. I’ve never seen anyone look so pale and tired in my life.

“ **A little under the weather today. I’ll be fine, but you know Lu – uh, the Inquisitor.** ”

“Headed up to see her?”

“ **No, she had to go find Cassandra, but she – oh nevermind. Did you need me for something?** ”

Well, I _was_ going to ask his opinion on what he thought was the most striking in terms of hair, but in hindsight, I should have guessed straight away.

“I was going to ask your opinion on something, but I think I already know your answer. I’ll let you get to, uh, whatever Wolfy told you to go do.”

Can’t help but smirk at the way he blushes and rubs the back of his neck. The man is so _confusing_ sometimes: one minute he can make a joke alluding to his sex life with the Inquisitor, the next he’s a blushing virgin.

“ **You’re not seriously just going to send me off without even letting me know what you called me over for?** ”

A snort escaped me. “Alright, I’ll ask, then: I’m starting work on another chapter of _Swords and Shields_ – shut up-” blasted man has the nerve to almost laugh, “and I was wondering what you thought about hair.”

“ **About hair?** ” He’s clearly confused. Good job elaborating, Tethras, looks like language really _is_ your strength.

“Yeah, like, uh – what’s most attractive, or most dangerous looking? Curly, or straight? Long, or short?”

We’re both quiet here for a moment, getting a little awkward. He seems to be really thinking on it, though.

“ **When you say ‘curly’, how curly do you mean? Like mine, or more loose, like how Lu – Lupa curls the ends sometimes?** ”

Good question. “Well, I meant more like yours, or sort of in-between.”

Quiet again. Curly looks like he’s slipped into a daydream. Do I wave in front of his face? Slam a book shut? Yell really loudly?

 “ **Straight hair.** ”

“Okay… care to elaborate for me?” Still in daydream land, though his answer was what I expected – Wolfy’s hair is pretty straight.

“ **Well, it’s… I guess it’s the way it blows around in the wind. Like leaves falling from branches on the first gentle breeze of autumn.** ”

Shit, would it be weird if I just scratched that down right now?

“Curly.”

“ **Yes?** ” Finally, he came back to the present.

“Where the _hell_ did that come from?”

“ **Excuse me?** ”

“That’s one of the most poetic things I’ve ever heard from the mouth of a military man.”

He’s blushing again. Clears his throat uncomfortably before continuing. “ **Well, if it’s really straight, it can be both feminine and intimidating, but with the big curls like Lupa does sometimes, it makes it… softer. Almost demure.** ”

Never thought I’d agree with calling the Inquisitor _demure_ , considering all her extra eyes and fur lines, but he’s got a point.

“Perfect. That’s what I needed. Thanks, Curly. And feel better!”

He’s off in daydreams again – walked away before I even finished talking to him!

What did he say about hair? _Like leaves falling on the first gentle breeze of autumn._

Close enough.

Maker, I’m tired. Probably wasn’t a good idea to get started on this as soon as we got back to Skyhold. I think I’ll just make a quick note of everything else I’ve come up with, and take another look at it tomorrow.

Hm. Maybe Lacie will want to have a drink with me. Never hurts to ask, does it?

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, so my angle for this was supposed to be his quiet thought process as he works on these things, instead of narrating like he's writing everything down for an autobiography or something like that. I'm not sure where the idea came from, or what possessed me to write it this way specifically, but here it is. I'm actually pretty proud of it.


End file.
